The Detouring Doctor

As a philatelic child I encountered most of the worlds’ stamps. Branded with the country’s name in their own language and currency  it prompted me to do interesting research of far flung countries. One which particularly piqued my interest was a stamp with the country name “Shqiperia” which turned out to be Albania. At that time, the 1970s Soviet Russia and the Iron curtain was a powerful influence in the world. My reading about this small Balkan country intrigued me even further. Today the label “Hermit Kingdom” is used to describe North Korea. In those days it could have equally applied to this country. At the time I remember thinking that I would never get to this country.

For a country whose history goes back thousands of years, very little of the past remains. In common with the other Balkan states it has a long history of Roman and then Ottoman occupation but it is the 20th century that was the most turbulent and interesting. Mussolini and subsequently the German Nazis occupied Albania giving rise to a revolutionary army to gain independence. While the motivation to join was for freedom, the army was successfully led by a young Enver Hoxha, who, at the end of WW2, declared a communist state with himself as the dictator. Sham one party elections followed but with all opposition parties banned he always secured 99% of the vote. He quickly moved to seal the borders no-one could leave and no-one could enter under penalty of death. Between 1945 and his death in 1985 he ruled a brutal and repressive Stalinist state complete with secret police, torture and gulags. Tens of thousands died which on a per capita basis is every bit as heinous as Stalin’s record.

The capitol city of Tirana is quite a revelation. I expected dour Soviet era concrete blocks and basic amenities. We have an apartment in the Blloku area and are in the midst of tree lined boulevards and stylish cafes and bars. The centre is booming with new multistory largely hotel construction but in the last 30 years since the fall of communism here the authorities have built a charming city albeit bereft of any historical monuments and also cursed with crazy chaotic traffic. It is a lovely place to spend a day or two and the food and wine scene is also impressive.

It is a pleasant 3 hour drive south winding through pretty, mountainous terrain. Our destination is Lake Ohrid, a massive lake that straddles the border between Macedonia and Albania. It is Sunday and the sun is shining and the little tourist town of Ohrid on the Macedonian side is abuzz with tourists and locals walking the lakeside promenade soaking in the UV rays and the view.

The setting is sublime and on Monday when the tourist traffic dissipates it is peaceful. We are lakeside on the promenade and it is a lovely 15 minute stroll to the delightful old town, a maze of cobblestone alleyways. The moniker “Jerusalem of the Balkans refers to the fact that there are 365 churches here, one for each day of the year. The oldest is the church of St Sofia which dates back to the 11th century. The ancient theatre dates back to 200 BC and a fort on the hilltop dominates the town.

Monday lunch is at Monastery winery with a cheese and charcuterie platter and a guided wine tasting. Both food and wine were amazingly good.

We finish our afternoon with a boat ride on the lake on a quirky “semi submarine” offering both underwater and deck views.

Our final morning in Macedonia sees us driving around the lake to the Albanian border and stopping at the Monastery of St Naum. It was established by St Naum, a Bulgarian writer and enlightener, in the 10th century. The present day church dates back to the 16th century and is said to be where the brothers St Cyril and St Methodius developed the Cyrillic alphabet.

I came home late one evening from work and could barely suppress my tears. I had just seen two children 18 months of age malnourished and about the size and weight of a 9 monther. Their parents in the same malnourished state. Their eyes dead and lifeless. In 1999 I was asked to be one of a group of GPs to care for refugees our government took from Kosovo following the attempted genocide by the Serbs. Unhesitatingly I said yes and worked a number of evening clinics after my regular consulting and some weekends. These pitiable traumatised people really had little need for formal doctoring and more nourishment, warmth and care. Fortunately the government setup at the Portsea Army camp which is where they were housed was also replete with all the appropriate allied health to expertly cater to those needs. It was one of my and my country’s better moments and we should all be proud.

Twenty five years on and I am here. This is a country of 2 million of which over 90% are Albanians. Amazingly only 3% were ever Serbs but that minority was in power and persecuted and brutalised the Albanian majority for year until Milosevic decided to attempt a genocide on the Muslim majority. In 1994 an impotent UN force stood aside in Rwanda. A year later the same happened with UN and NATO forces being passive witnesses in Bosnia. Third time lucky, Bill Clinton did not respond passively as he did in the past. NATO responded with airpower defeating the Serbs and restoring sovereignty to the Kosovars.

Newborn is a word that is used a lot here. Declared and recognised as a country in 2008 it is the youngest nation on earth. The capitol Pristina is a small city with little of historical consequence to see. The centre of town consists of a series of tree lined squares with statues and murals depicting some of the notable Kosovars from the past. For me the quirkiest feature here is Bill Clinton square at the end of Bill Clinton Blvd with a large statue of the man himself beaming down on all.

Prizren is the second city of Kosovo and is the historical and cultural hub of Kosovo. It is pretty and has a whole lot more history and attractions than Pristina. This is a pretty little independent country. Despite their tragic past they are succeeding economically and more importantly, as a tolerant multiracial society.

Land border crossings are a novelty to my life partner. We are halfway through our 4 hour bus journey from Sofia to Skopje and this one passes smoothly and uneventfully. We arrived at Skopje early in the afternoon and hit the ground running again. North Macedonia was a part of the former Yugoslavia and a separate entity to Macedonia in Greece. It is a multicultural melting pot of Macedonians, Albanians, Serbs, Turks and Bosniaks. Skopje is its capitol.

This is a country whose past goes back to the 6th century BC. Phillip 11 of Macedon absorbed the region and created Macedonia in 356 BC. His son Alexander the Great expanded the empire all the way to modern day India to be the dominant of its time.

Central Skopje has a number of impressive monuments around Macedon square and a pretty old city. Unfortunately there Is a lack of maintenance and widespread graffiti which lends an element of unkempt scruffiness to the whole place.

Our final part of the loop around Bulgaria involves 8 hours of driving. Some hours are over rough winding corrugated roads which have a disproportionate amount of international trucks from Serbia and Romania. We arrive at the off the beaten track tourist sight of Belogradchik Fortress a stone’s throw from the Serbian and Romanian border.

As we approach the road winds steadily higher through a rocky wilderness that would be more at home in, say, Utah. The fortress is unique as the over 3 quarters of the “wall” is composed of massive rock towers and only a small amount has had to be built by human hands. Built in the 14th century the fortress walls are a massive 2 metres thick. This is an amazing structure in a unique landscape.

The long drive has us racing against the clock with our return to Sofia. We need to return our rental car, find our new apartment and make our way to our dinner booking at 7:30 pm. It is a rushed 20 minute brisk walk to get us there but we are on time to the “Secret Chef’s Table” restaurant. A 22 course degustation with matched wine. The chef is centre stage here and explains the exquisite dishes and wines in detail to the shared table of a dozen diners. It is a decadent finale to our time in Bulgaria. We have loved our time here, the sights, accommodation and food and wine have far exceeded expectations. This is a country I would be happy to return to.

In 2004 we received a message from our then 20 year old son Anthony. He has been offered a business opportunity to buy a backpackers hostel in Europe’s next new thing, Bulgaria and specifically Veliko Tarnovo. The only problem is that he is on the tail end of 2 years backpacking around the world after completing  year 12. He has no funds and is after our help to buy the place. We were not in a position to buy the place which, in retrospect, is probably in everyone’s best interest

The historic and cultural centre of Bulgaria, Veliko Tarnovo, is the next stop in our long and lazy loop through Bulgaria. It has been dubbed the historic and cultural capitol of Bulgaria. The Yantra River meanders between the hills surmounted with fortresses, the largest of which is Tsaravets constructed in the 12th century. It housed both the Royal and Patriarchal palaces between 1185 and 1393 until the all conquering Ottomans laid siege and after 3 months overpowered the fort. Today the ramparts remain and a reconstructed Bulgarian Orthodox church surmounts the hill. We are now out of the main tourist season and having the fortress to ourselves to wander around is magic

The second city of Bulgaria is a 2 hour drive south of Sofia. It’s built on seven hills and its history goes back to the 5th century BC. We have a perfectly situated room just a stones throw from the old city and also the cafe precinct.

The 1st century AD Roman theatre of Phillippopolis is a highlight. It seats 7000 and is still used for concerts today which is in evidence with the packing up happening when we were there.

The day ends with a Bulgarian wine flight at a wine shop and a superb meal at the Aylyakria restaurant where I reacquainted myself with horse meat as a steak dish. Yum!

We are back in a rented car and suddenly we resume where we left off six months ago. I am in the driver’s seat (Suzanne does not drive manual cars) and she is my copilot running the Google maps navigation and playing the role of DJ even if the music list on her phone isn’t always my cup of tea.

We have learned from last year where we rented a car for the whole 6 weeks which restricted our accommodation options in the main cities where lack of parking in old towns meant staying further out. This time we enjoy being walking distance to attractions and only renting cars to travel the countryside. Also we have gone ultra small with our cars and our zippy white Kia Piccanto navigates the narrow congested streets easily while still managing to comfortably maintain the allowed 120kmph on motorways.

Our first destination is Rila monastery located in the mountains 2 hours west. Founded in the 10th century it is the spiritual beating heart of the Bulgarian Orthodox church. The church itself is absolutely sublime. The architecture is unusual and every square centimetre of wall and ceiling space is covered in beautiful frescoes

Passports…..passports! It’s 3 am and I climb off the top bunk and trudge out into the cold night air, beneath the grimy station underpass to immigration. I ask myself once again why are border towns so dirty and ugly? The process is repeated soon after at the Bulgarian side and it is back to sleep. One of the end termini of the fabled Orient Express was of course Istanbul and rather than fly to Sofia we are travelling on those same tracks as a century ago. It’s a shame that the rolling stock is not as luxurious but the train is lean and modern enough and we sleep well in our 2 berth cabin.

Lunch the next day was in the surprisingly pretty Bulgarian capitol of Sofia named after the patron saint of wisdom. We quickly discover that stews feature highly in Bulgarian cuisine. Also Bulgarian wines are yet another hidden gem and everything is so cheap here! We spent the afternoon wandering through pretty neighbourhoods and visiting some magnificent Orthodox churches. This place has a nice vibe and a vibrant cafe and bar culture with alfresco drinking and dining in abundance.